Silver Devil
by tallgeese
Summary: The Story of Lee Chaolan. Starts pretekken, but moves up to present, so most of your favorite characters will appear between here and there.


**As the tekken storyline doesn't really divulge much about Lee's history pre-tekken, I've taken several liberties in this opening. As the story progresses into the realm of the story presented in the games I'll keep diversions to a minimum, so please forgive any slight differences that occur in the meantime. That said, I don't own tekken, Lee, or any of that other stuff that may or may not be necessary to point out.**

Anxiety on his face, Lee leaned forward with his arms fully extended; the tips of his fingers encompassing the bread a split second before it could touch the ground. Not giving himself time to appreciate his accomplishment, he tucked the loaf into his body and darted away as fast as possible. When he had successfully lost himself in the crowded streets of the city he relaxed to a walk and pocketed his prize.

In truth he needn't have acted so cautiously. It was Yuwan, the large boy who had 'accidentally' rammed into the merchant's cart moments before, who was the object of attention for the select few people who had bothered to notice the incident. The bread proprietor stood between Yuwan and the cart now, shouting in as menacing a manner as he possibly could. He could do very little to the boy, he knew. He didn't dare to strike him, for though Yuwan was only fourteen he had the stature and strength of a man. Compounded to this was the fact that the boy was clearly an orphan, which meant he could count on never receiving compensation for his cart's broken axel, even if he had him arrested. So he contented himself in shouting for a few minutes more, concluding with a half-hearted threat of personal harm should the scoundrel not leave his sight immediately and never return. Yuwan, his mission now accomplished, was more than happy to oblige.

Lord of the sewer's rats! That's the glamorous title he deserved to wear, that enigmatic thief known as Shin. He irked out his living as any wily parasite would: off the efforts of others. This is not to say that he did this without any regard to their well-being, however! Indeed, he saw fit to give them a measured share of whatever they acquired, taking the excess for himself lest they quarrel for it. So many roles, he played for the orphans of Hong Kong: Manager, parent, friend, and overseer. Didn't he deserve their unending loyalty?

Shin was a man in his middle twenties, adorn in elegant business attire of bright color that starkly contrasted the dull rags of the other children in the alley where he stood. His face was pointed and narrow, his dark black hair greased and pulled into a ponytail behind him. While his massive arms might point out (truthfully) that he had at one time been a competent fighter, his equally prodigious girth was quick to remind anyone who looked at him for the first time that this was a man who had lived an easy life for a very long time. This did little to encourage his enemies, or some of the rowdy children who might seek independence from him, as he was accompanied always by his two bodyguards.

So it was that as 'the magnificent' Shin proceeded to walk in circles about the silver-haired boy who kneeled before him, the other children backed away in reverence as he approached. Those thick arms that had before beaten and crippled so many rivals now cradled a variety of items as he leaned down on the boy who had brought them before him.

"You're a gifted one, Lee." His deep voice had an arrogant tilde to it. "I give you a two hour deadline and you provide, not just the necklace that I required, but a loaf of bread and five purses. You didn't even try to hide anything." He laughed a bit at his joke, for indeed, any boy stupid enough to try to keep things for himself soon learned his folly. This was a fact that Lee knew better than anyone else.

"Yes." Lee said evenly, keeping his face to the ground for fear that it would betray the hatred he felt.

"How lucky you are to have a friend like me! If I didn't moderate that skill of yours, why, all the scum of the city would catch wind of the things you've gotten and would attack relentlessly to claim them. Thanks to me your skills provide you a livelihood with none of that horrible struggle!" With one hand Shin halved the loaf of bread and tossed the smaller portion of it in the dirt at Lee's side.

"I'm lucky to have a friend like you," came Lee's parroted reply, "Thank you for your kindness." He scrapped up the bread hurriedly and left. Shin performed this ritual with each of the other children in turn until the alleyway was abandoned.

"Well, now that that's been taken care of, on to the important business. Wei-lin, is the visit of our foreign meal-ticket still on schedule?" At the sound of his name, the massive man bowed.

"Yes, Heihachi Mishima, of the quickly rising conglomerate that bears his name, will be visiting one of his vendors here in the city tomorrow at four-o'clock. In order to make it there from the airport, his car will have to pass a toll road in our territory."

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!" He clapped his hands in delight. "So what about it, Ten? Are your preparations set up?" His second bodyguard -a wiry, effeminate man with a love of concealable daggers- stepped forward.

"Myself and the other men we've enlisted will keep the escort vehicles and bodyguards occupied. You and Wei can work on extorting Mishima without fear of interruption." This brought about another round of laughter in shin. His laugh, quite the opposite of his character, was a full and pleasant sound that almost seemed out of place in the desolate surroundings.

"I've gotten as far as I can get with this over-glorified babysitting racket. If I want to be taken seriously I need to do something serious. After tomorrow I'll finally be established. I'll finally have the means to move up in the underworld!" He shook with glee and anticipation. His excitement was blind to even the slightest possibility of failure. Perhaps, though, he'd have lost some of that confidence if he knew what manner of demon Heihachi Mishima truly was, or if he knew that one of the children he'd so readily dismissed as a 'sewer rat' was hell bent on killing him.


End file.
